We're Adopting...

We are excited to announce that we’re adopting!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” Declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and future.” Jeremiah 29:11 This verse has rug true for Chad and me many times on our journey, and I know it will continue to as we head down the adoption path.  As many of you know Chad and I started trying for a family over 2 years ago. Like most people we planned, dreamed, and knew we would be pregnant instantly. After all isn’t that how it happens for everyone? Well, not for us. After a year of trying on our own we consulted with a fertility specialist and they declared, “You have unexplained infertility, there is nothing wrong with you!” Yeah for us! We took our diagnoses and ran with it. We thought, we’re fine, it will happen, we just need to relax. Another year later, and still no baby caused us to head back the fertility clinic for a more drastic approach.  We decided to try IUI. Basically, after pills, injections, and other fun things you probably don’t want to know about, my follicles (the cave the eggs are in) are supposed to be plump and ready to produce beautiful eggs and in turn beautiful babies.  After a text book IUI, and lots of prayers for twins, we got the devastating news that it didn’t work. The amazing part was, I didn’t cry, I didn’t throw things, I was at peace and so was Chad. That night we sat on the couch and discussed our options. We both felt we needed to move forward with adoption. We felt God was calling us in this direction, and it was our job to listen. However, the next morning, I woke up and got that feeling. The feeling you get when you want to do things your way, and I told Chad I wanted to try one more time. I felt I needed it for my sanity. Well, long story short, we tried, it was text book again, and we failed. Once again God blessed us both with a kind of peace that we would not have had if it wasn’t by His grace. That next day we dove headfirst into the world of adoption and haven’t looked back since!

God was tugging on our hearts all along! We started the process of domestic adoption back in November of 2010, before we started fertility. We decided on an agency, Bethany Christian Services, after hearing wonderful things about the program through many who had previously adopted.  We filled out the preliminary application and sent it off. We were quickly approved to receive the formal application. This included a lengthy online application, and after submitting that you sent in a fee and they sent you a mound of paperwork to complete. At this time we decided to put the adoption on hold and try fertility. After our 3 month hiatus, we got back on the horse and dug into the paperwork. On April 20, 2011 we submitted our formal application, on April 29, 2011 we went to our training day in Columbia, then we had 3 home studies in May and June, and on June 29, 2011 at 9:30 a.m. we got the call that we were APPROVED! This means we are officially waiting for a baby! This means we could get a call in a week or in 2 years. You never know. It’s all in God’s timing.

It’s hard to explain, the joy Chad and I are currently experiencing. We’re not pregnant. We don’t know when our family will turn from a family of 2 to a family of 3, but someone out there is pregnant, and she is confused and scared, and we are praying for her to be our miracle. Someone out there is going to make a choice that makes her our hero. She is going to choose adoption over abortion. She is going to choose life. She is going to choose us to receive her miracle, and she is going to give us the most perfect gift someone could offer.

Adoption started as a solution to our problem and ended as an answer to our prayers. It has been a long and bumpy road getting here, but I know God’s got our back, and we will be just fine!

Not flesh of my flesh
Nor bone of my bone
but still miraculously my own.

Never forget for a single minute
You did not grow under my heart
but in it.

by
Fleur Conkling Heyliger

Stay tuned…